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Honest RV review: 2025 Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

Honest RV review: 2025 Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

Tony Barthel
RV Review, Travel Trailer Review

Review of the Forest River Cherokee 17SC travel trailer

Today’s RV review is of the new-for-2025 Forest River Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that for anyone who is looking for a smaller, more affordable travel trailer Cherokee’s done something rather remarkable here. There are a few downsides, though, which we’ll get into in a moment.

If you’re shopping for a smaller, single-axle trailer you often have some compromises that are a given. Usually the bed is an east-west bed and the interior is essentially one big room. In other words no separation between the bedroom and the kitchen.

This trailer solves that and really establishes a new very functional floor plan in this size and price range. In fact, it really trounces a lot of other examples I’ve seen. But first…

Start at the road with the Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

What you have is a single-axle trailer which rides on less expensive off-brand tires and a leaf spring suspension. I am in no way surprised by this.

But Cherokee does have a valve stem cap that changes color based on the inflation pressure of the tires. While my first choice is a tire pressure monitoring system, that’s not likely at this price point so this is a not bad solution.

Being a smaller trailer all the sewer connections are in a single place, which is good. I was also surprised to see tank heaters so that might extend how long you can enjoy camping - this isn’t an Arctic-ready rig but it would be great in the shoulder seasons.

This is a wood-framed aluminum-skinned “stick and tin” trailer build. We have an article about the various types of RV construction here.

This also uses the Exact Slide mechanism which is a cable slide but one that’s specifically designed so you can occupy the slide room even when it’s retracted. Now I know plenty of you do this anyway, but this is one of the only ones where they specifically tell you it’s cool to do so. You do with your RV what you want - I’m going to follow the instructions.

Good thing my wifey doesn’t read these, she’d never ever believe that I wrote that. I’m going to blame Diane. Hehe.

One more thing, this actually comes with a back-up camera. Not back-up camera prep, but actually comes with the darned camera itself.

What’s inside the Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

This trailer has the kitchen all the way at the back and that kitchen stretches the width of the trailer. There’s a 12 volt fridge right at the entry door and that fridge opens both ways so if you need to just reach in and get a bottle of ketchup or whatever, you can.

I think the initial examples of these fridges had some issues where the doors could fall off if you didn’t close them properly but I believe that’s been worked out. In fact I have one of these in my new trailer and I am really impressed with how efficient it is with power.

Other than that there’s a two-burner in-line propane stove top but a regular microwave oven. Bummer, wish it were a convection microwave but I don’t suppose you’ll be making huge meals in here.

However with the counter extending most of the width of the trailer, except for where the fridge is, there is actually good counter space and the single-bowl sink is a really good size.

There’s also a drawer under the two-burner propane stove top and decent cabinet space as well.

On the camp side is a larger window and a dining bar. Beneath that are shelves where seven totes are included so there is a tremendous amount of storage inside this rig for something of this overall length. They’ve done a super job.

That breakfast bar could also be additional counter space, or a place to work.

There is a folding couch in a slide over on the road side.

Bathroom in the Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

One of the big surprises of this unit is that the bathroom splits the rig in half and extends the width of the trailer. I love this!

There’s a decent sink with a medicine cabinet over on the camp side. There’s plenty of space around the toilet and the shower is a mini tub with a shower curtain. My only issue here is that they use a low-grade vent fan in here whereas many of the Cherokee offerings use a higher-capacity vent fan. But they put the skylight and vent fan right above the tub so it works to extend the headroom there.

I actually stood in the shower and the headroom was good even without the additional space.

The one bummer is that the toilet in here is plastic though there’s plenty of space and I wouldn’t expect a porcelain throne at this price point either.

Bedroom in the Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

You might be further surprised by the fact that the bedroom offers a north-south bed with cabinets and closets on either side. Not at all what you would expect in a trailer of this length but they nailed it.

Know that this trailer is pretty short and I believe this is a short queen mattress but the fact that you can walk around the bed and get closets and overhead cabinets is pretty impressive.

Another thing in here is a small inverter by the bed on the camp side which would be great for something like a CPAP machine. Inverters take a bit of power themselves but these smaller ones take less than a whole-trailer beast so this really makes sense.

Boondocking and travel access

When I first saw a video of this trailer there were some issues with the design where travel access was limited. Since then they’ve made enough changes that you can get into the bathroom and bedroom with the slide in.

As mentioned, you can also use the couch with the slide in and the rest of the trailer is pretty accessible so I would say this is good with or without the slide out.

Cherokee now includes a single 200 watt solar panel with this. In the past I would say a single panel wouldn’t even compensate for the 12 volt fridge but, if my measurements of this fridge in my own new trailer are correct, a single panel could compensate for the fridge’s consumption. Obviously more testing to come.

Interestingly I spoke with someone at Lippert when I was at Open House and he remarked that the efficiency technology of newer compressors and refrigerators and air conditioners is advancing quickly. Perhaps this fridge is a beneficiary of that.

Conclusions about the Cherokee Wolf Pup 17SC

I mentioned a few hitches in the giddy-up of this trailer. Obviously no rig is perfect.

But one of the weird things I saw was a vent hole in the wall between the bathroom and the main living space and another between the bedroom and the bathroom. The air conditioner and heater in this little RV is not ducted so I would imagine that hot or cold air is going to have a bit of a challenge reaching the bedroom.

I suspect owners are very quickly going to put some sort of fan in here to help move that air along.

Overall I really like this trailer, especially at this price point. The features, layout and design are really unusual and quite usable.

Funny thing - I was in Indiana last week picking up my own new trailer and I got to see a bunch of new products from Forest River including this little trailer in person. I had a great opportunity to capture pictures and impressions, which I really appreciate, but the day I went to Cherokee it was dumping buckets so you’ll see a very wet me in the photo of the shower here.

Those who know me know that I absolutely positively and completely despise rain and winter so I may or may not have been a grumpy Gus even though I appreciated the opportunity to see a bunch of new Forest River trailers.

Anyhow, this might make a great trailer for someone traveling solo or even a couple. What do you think? As always, I’m grateful for your comments.

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